Chances are you would've heard of The Addams Family, either by watching it at the Cinema or playing it at home on a computer or console. Well, if you played the 1992 Amiga version however, compared to say, the Atari ST, Mega Drive or SNES, it was one of the only versions that had no background detail at all for most of the game, just pure blackness. Well as a complete surprise to myself, it looks as if DJ Mike with the help of some EAB members are remaking the Amiga version of The Addams Family with those missing backgrounds. As one person puts it "the game is 99 % finished, I tested all the levels using infinite energy and all the backgrounds are perfect and everything is fine"
According to dlfrsilver in regards to why there were no backgrounds in the Amiga version. "The amiga version already had the backgrounds, but the parallax was deactivated or removed and the background graphics were hidden behind the main foreground." And according to squirminator2k who did further research, "it came down to wanting the smoother graphics, but also because the background layer didn't actually scroll - i.e. it was a fixed, static layer - players of an early demo build that featured the backdrops complained that it was difficult to figure out where Gomez was visually when he was in freefall. For these reasons, the backdrop layer was nix'd and we got a solid backdrop."
In regards to this enhanced version when I asked via the EAB forums for more details, DJ Mike was happy to respond with. "I am merely enhancing the original game/restoring parts that were disabled by the developers before release. I know in the first few pages 12 years ago it was discovered that the graphics and maps for the game already includes the backgrounds. It was assumed that the code for drawing them was not present in the release build, but I discovered otherwise and that's been the basis for my restoration efforts."
And that's all there is to say so far, but for now here's the latest beta to try via DJ Mike (link) and bugs or feedback to be posted through the EAB forums linked (HERE)
Just seen the beta footage provided by Saberman.. Damn it looks GOOD!
ReplyDeleteOh my! Wow! So cool! :)
ReplyDeleteApparently required WHDload v20... which is not out.
ReplyDeleteSaberman has got it working fine, so best to ask him what he used :)
DeleteI asked .. " The beta version of Whdload 20 is available here: https://www.whdload.de/whdload/whd200.lha
Deletewww.whdload.de
Zbigniew
You need to extract the files from the archive to the existing Whdload installation. "
Ah, not a problem. Cheers for the update
DeleteYou're welcome :)))))))
DeleteInteresting. It's a game that could do with a parallax layer - even a very simple one made of 2-colour shapes like in James Pond 2. However, that's not the brief this team has set themselves.
ReplyDeleteIf you can't have parallax, I'd strongly advise keeping the background as understated as possible so as not to drown out the foreground. Don't have a wall of high-contrast, repeating bricks, for example! This was a common mistake with games on the Amiga - "Gods" being one of the worst offenders.
Justice done,after 35 years? I'm not sure cause even the ST-f version got the parallax scrolling but this enhanced Amiga release seem to have only the backgrounds but without the parallax effect! Am i wrong? After all,better than nothing,i guess!!
ReplyDeleteThere is a parallax mode the developers original added, that is supported in my enhancement. It is not previewed in that video. However, because the game runs in single playfield (due to being 32 colours), the background can only be parallax-scrolled by redrawing it. On A500 redraw takes 2-4 frames which means the scroll looks quite janky compared to the nice 50fps scroll of the foreground (which is achieved with the HW so can happen much quicker). This is almost certainly why the developers disabled backgrounds in the final release, coupled with a publishing deadline Ocean probably set.
ReplyDeleteI am currently working on extra enhancements for AGA machines that will leverage the extra 3 bitplanes to scroll backgrounds in HW instead of redrawing, so if you have A1200/A4000 they will scroll smoothly. That needs quite a bit more code so needs some time in the oven. :-)
Thanks Mike! I think,however,that you can release all of the three versions: the one with fixed parallax,the one with dual layer but slower( maybe at 25 fps?) and the other for AGA,why not? I think "Addams Family" was and is a fantastic platform game,one of the best of the era but was a game for an ocs Amiga and even the st-f with only 512kb ram was capable to running it...so i think a lot of players like me will be really amazed for an ocs release,even choppier,but with the dual layer! However,thanks again for your work!!
DeleteThe parallax is showcased around 4:30 in the video. Far as I see the reason this feels janky is because it skips frames and instead of assuming from the previous position it jumps to where it is supposed to be under 50fps, making it move several pixels at a time (also often at random positions), hence the confusing stuttering. You can salvage this if you lock the background movement at a steady refresh rate (be it every 2 or 3 or even 4 frames instead of variable) and also force it to only move a pixel at a time. This should fix the stuttering feeling and make it look a lot smoother than now.
DeleteParallax layer on the ST does not move, it looks weird, yes, but it's probably much cheaper...
DeleteStill, the ST version is very jerky.
No,i think the ST one is great if you consider that was a machine without hw scrolling and the game works with only 512kb of ram....and the background in the caverns on that version scrolls really good vertically giving a great sense of perspective. Instead in this enhanced version the background is simply fixed and doesn't move. But i think that Mike will fix this soon.
DeleteYES!!! Addams Family is my other favourite games ever on Amiga !!!!!! Best than ever of Super Famicom...!!!! Yeah!!!! Even without a background, Addams Family is still EXCELLENT, better than the poor copy of the Super Famicom version....!!
ReplyDeleteThe sequel, Pugsley Scavenger Hunt, is possible on the Amiga AGA!!!!
In what way is it better than the SNES, or Megadrive version? None that I’m aware of other than *maybe* you might prefer the music or something? 😅
DeleteWHDL, what a pity !
ReplyDelete